117 Important Children’s Books

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A Boy and His Mirror by Marchánt Davis
A Child’s Introduction to Jazz: The Musicians, Culture, and Roots of the World’s Coolest Music by Jabari Asim
A Crown So Cursed by L.L. McKinney
A Dream So Dark by L.L. McKinney
A Family Prayer by Shay Youngblood
A Flag for Juneteenth by Kim Taylor
A Hero Like Me by Angela Joy and Jen Reid
A Song for Juneteenth by Zetta Elliott
A Walk in the Woods by Nikki Grimes
All Aboard the Schooltrain: A Little Story from the Great Migration by Glenda Armand
An American Story by Kwame Alexander
An Earth Song (Petite Poems) by Langston Hughes
Baby, Sleepy Baby by Atinuke
Big by Vashti Harrison
Big Tune: Rise of the Dancehall Prince by Alliah L. Agostini
Birmingham, 1963 by Carole Boston Weatherford
Breaking the Chains: African-American Slave Resistance by William L. Katz
Breaking to the Beat! by Elizabeth Acevedo
Can We Please Give the Police Department to the Grandmothers? by Junauda Petrus
Cape by Kevin Johnson
Chaos Theory by Nic Stone
Colin Kaepernick: Change the Game by Colin Kaepernick and Eve L. Ewing
Come Home Safe by Brian Buckmire
Coretta’s Journey: The Life and Times of Coretta Scott King by Alice Faye Duncan
Cornrows (2023) by Camille Yarbrough
Curlfriends: New in Town (a Graphic Novel) by Sharee Miller
Dear Star Baby by Malcolm Newsome
Dreamer by Akim Aliu and Greg Anderson Elysée
Ellie Engle Saves Herself by Leah Johnson
Fadya and the Song of the River by Laura Nsafou
Figure It Out, Henri Weldon by Tanita S. Davis
Flipflopi: How a Boat Made from Flip-Flops Is Helping to Save the Ocean by Linda Ravin Lodding and Dipesh Pabari
Forgive Me Not by Jennifer Baker
Fresh Juice by Robert Liu-Trujillo
Garvey’s Choice: The Graphic Novel by Nikki Grimes
Gordon Parks: How the Photographer Captured Black and White America by Carole Boston Weatherford
Happy with My Nappy by Gina Jarrell
Harlem at Four by Michael Datcher
Hey Otter! Hey Beaver! by Brian Pinkney
History Comics: Rosa Parks & Claudette Colvin: Civil Rights Heroes by Tracey Baptiste
Honest June: Secrets and Spies by Tina Wells
How Do You Spell Unfair?: Macnolia Cox and the National Spelling Bee by Carole Boston Weatherford
How to Be a (Young) Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi and Nic Stone
How to Write a Poem by Kwame Alexander
Hurry, Kate, or You’ll Be Late! by Janice N. Harrington
I Am Big by Itah Sadu
I Want to Be Big! by Tiffany Golden
I’m Going to Have a Good Day!: Daily Affirmations with Scarlett by Tiania Haneline and Scarlett Gray Smith
Ice Cream Man: How Augustus Jackson Made a Sweet Treat Better by Glenda Armand
Invincible: Fathers and Mothers of Black America by Wade Hudson
Invisible Son by Kim Johnson
Jackie Ormes Draws the Future: The Remarkable Life of a Pioneering Cartoonist by Liz Montague
Jelani’s Key by D. Amari Jackson
Jump In! by Shadra Strickland
Juneteenth by Van G. Garrett
Just Jerry: How Drawing Shaped My Life by Jerry Pinkney
Justice Rising: 12 Amazing Black Women in the Civil Rights Movement by Katheryn Russell-Brown
Ketanji: Justice Jackson’s Journey to the U.S. Supreme Court by Kekla Magoon
Little Daymond Learns to Earn by Daymond John
Little Rosetta and the Talking Guitar: The Musical Story of Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the Woman Who Invented Rock and Roll by Charnelle Pinkney Barlow
Little Troublemaker Makes a Mess by Luvvie Ajayi
Looking for Happy by Ty Chapman
Madam C. J. Walker Builds a Business by Denene Millner
Mary Can! by Mary J. Blige
Matchmaker #3 by Kelly Starling Lyons
Mermaid and Pirate by Tracey Baptiste
My Baba’s Garden by Jordan Scott
My Red, White, and Blue by Alana Tyson
Nic Blake and the Remarkables: The Manifestor Prophecy by Angie Thomas
Nigeria Jones by Ibi Zoboi
Not an Easy Win by Chrystal D. Giles
Now Let Me Fly: A Portrait of Eugene Bullard by Brahm Revel
Once in a Blue Moon by Sharon G. Flake
Plátanos Are Love by Alyssa Reynoso-Morris
Promise Boys by Nick Brooks
Put Your Shoes On & Get Ready! by Raphael G. Warnock
Remember Us by Jacqueline Woodson
Repeat After Me: Big Things to Say Every Day by Jazmyn Simon and Dulé Hill
Rock, Rosetta, Rock! Roll, Rosetta, Roll!: Presenting Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the Godmother of Rock & Roll by Tonya Bolden
Rooting for Plants: The Unstoppable Charles S. Parker, Black Botanist and Collector by Janice N. Harrington
Salat in Secret by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow
Sandy Toes: A Summer Adventure by Shauntay Grant
School Trip by Jerry Craft
See You on the Other Side by Rachel Montez Minor
She Persisted: Dorothy Height by Kelly Starling Lyons
Simon B. Rhymin’ Gets in the Game by Dwayne Reed
Stacey’s Remarkable Books by Stacey Abrams aka Selena Montgomery
Sugar Plum Ballerinas Sugar Plums to the Rescue! #5 by Whoopi Goldberg
Sun Keep Rising by Kristen R. Lee
The (Young) Antiracist’s Workbook: Questions for Changemakers by Ibram X. Kendi and Nic Stone
The Artivist by Nikkolas Smith
The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton
The Bronx Is My Home by Alyssa Reynoso-Morris
The Courage of the Little Hummingbird: A Tale Told Around the World by Leah Henderson
The Enchanted Bridge by Zetta Elliott
The Everlasting Rose (the Belles Series, Book 2) by Dhonielle Clayton
The Green Piano: How Little Me Found Music by Roberta Flack and Tonya Bolden
The Kindest Red: A Story of Hijab and Friendship by Ibtihaj Muhammad
The Making of Butterflies by Zora Neale Hurston and Adapted by Ibram X. Kendi
The Mermaid Princesses: A Sister Tale by Maya Cameron-Gordon
The Night Before Freedom: A Juneteenth Story by Glenda Armand
The Noisy Classroom Goes to the Museum by Angela Shanté
The Playbook by Kwame Alexander
The Rhythm of Time by Questlove and S. A. Cosby
The Smallest Spot of a Dot: The Little Ways We’re Different, the Big Ways We’re the Same by Linsey Davis
There Was a Party for Langston by Jason Reynolds
To Boldly Go: How Nichelle Nichols and Star Trek Helped Advance Civil Rights by Angela Dalton
Track Star #4 by Kelly Starling Lyons
Ty’s Travels: Camp-Out by Kelly Starling Lyons
Wash Day by Tiffany Golden
We Are All So Good at Smiling by Amber McBride
We Are Here by Tami Charles
What Does Brown Mean To You? by Ron Grady
You Are My Pride: A Love Letter from Your Motherland by Carole Boston Weatherford
You Gotta Meet Mr. Pierce!: The Storied Life of Folk Artist Elijah Pierce by Carmella Van Vleet and Chiquita Mullins Lee
You So Black by Theresa tha S.O.N.G.B.I.R.D.
Young, Gifted and Black Too: 52 Black Heroes to Celebrate and Discover by Jamia Wilson